1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to headlight assemblies for motor vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to headlight assemblies that enable the direction of the headlight to selectively move relative the direction in which the motor vehicle is driving.
2. Prior Art Description
A disproportionate number of motor vehicle accidents involve motorcycles. One of the largest contributing factors to this high accident rate is that motorcycles have a much smaller visual profile than do other vehicles on the road. Since motorcycles are relatively small and thin, they can easily be obstructed by other vehicles and roadside objects. Furthermore, the small visual profile of a motorcycle makes the motorcycle very easy to miss in the blind spots of larger vehicles. This difficulty in visually detecting motorcycles is compounded by the speed and agility of motorcycles. As such, to larger vehicles, motorcycles seem to come out of nowhere on the road.
To increase the visibility of a motorcycle, a motorcycle is required to have lights if that motorcycle is registered to ride on public roads. However, most motorcycles only have a single headlight. At night, a single headlight presents only a single point of light on a dark roadway. It is very difficult for an oncoming motorist to accurately judge the distance of the motorcycle just by viewing that single point of light.
It is for these reasons that motorcycle manufacturers intentionally design their motorcycles to be loud. The loudness of the motorcycle is intended to provide an audible warning of the motorcycle's presence to other vehicles on the road. However, many automobiles, especially luxury automobiles, are designed to shield out external noises. Furthermore, many automobiles contain powerful sound systems that block external noises.
One way to make a motorcycle more noticeable to other vehicles is to make the lighting of the motorcycle more noticeable. Flashing lights cannot be used because other vehicles perceive flashing lights to be an emergency vehicle. Larger, more widely spaced lights are likewise unusable due to the space limitations of a motorcycle. Consequently, one of the few options to make the lights of a motorcycle more noticeable is to cause the lights to oscillate in direction independent from the movement of the motorcycle.
Trains have some of the same perception problems as do motorcycles. A train typically has a single front headlight. This makes the distance of an approaching train hard to determine. In the prior art, the headlight for a train has been made to oscillate in position. The oscillation is in the vertical plane, wherein the headlight oscillates up and down as the train travels along the tracks. The oscillation of the headlight helps observers visually determine the distance of the approaching train. Vertically oscillating headlights for trains are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 2,666,193 to Keegan.
In the prior art, headlights for motorcycles have also been made to move. However, the movement imparted to the headlight is typically utilized to keep the headlight pointed in the direction of travel as the motorcycles leans and turns. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,339 to Alphen, a system is disclosed that moves the headlight of a motorcycle to compensate for the lean of a motorcycle during a turn. If the motorcycle is traveling straight, the headlight does not move. Likewise, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,556,410 to Nakano, a headlight system is disclosed where the headlight automatically moves in the direction that a motorcycle is about to turn. If the motorcycle is traveling straight, then the headlight does not move. In both prior art examples, the position of the motorcycle headlight is altered to improve the visibility for the driver of the motorcycle. The movement of the headlight does nothing to improve the visibility of the motorcycle as perceived by other motorists, especially when the motorcycle is traveling straight.
A need therefore exists for a motorcycle headlight assembly that oscillates in such a way that it significantly improves the visibility of the motorcycle at all times and helps other vehicles perceive the distance of the motorcycle on the road. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.